Countries that touch but have no road crossings

[J N Winkler]

Ahh, yes, of course. I'm facepalming myself because that's so obvious. I suppose it could be an issue if you had already gone to Israel when you only had one passport (say, because you did not anticipate travelling to the countries where this is a problem) and then your circumstances changed and you needed the second passport then.

Yes, there's the rub--it takes some foresight to avoid getting painted into a corner with regard to Israel and its Arab enemies.  That is actually one reason I haven't visited Israel yet, though I would like to do so.  Now that Syria is falling apart too badly to be part of a realistic Middle Eastern tourist itinerary, and I have only three years of validity left on my current passport, I may go ahead and do it one winter soon.

[cpzilliacus]

It wouldn't surprise me if it were an Arab country.  The Muhammad cartoons controversy was Danish, not Swedish, and compared to Sweden, Denmark is remarkably lacking in political correctness.  This Guardian article (which caused considerable controversy in the Scandinavian countries) explores some of these fissures:

ahh yes, those cartoons.  here I thought Sweden was also "remarkably lacking in political correctness" (read: rise of right-wing parties which appear to be present in all northern European countries worried about immigration, especially from the Arab Islamic world.)

FTFY.

I don't agree with discrimination against people because of their faith, but that's what going on, even though the Nordic nations may be the least religious places on the inhabited Earth.

One of the things that is perhaps more offensive there than in the U.S. is (mis)treatment of women (which is supposedly O.K. by Sharia Law).

[Duke87]

I don't think even a Yemeni entry stamp would be a problem for, say, a passport holder from one of the EU-15 countries whose appearance, dress, and deportment conformed to stereotypical western European norms.

I don't have a link handy, but I recall reading a story about a woman from The Netherlands (or somewhere similar) who had done a lot of travel and had stamps in her passport from a bunch of Muslim countries, Yemen among them. She flew to Canada and Canada admitted her with no trouble. She then tried to take the train from Montreal to New York and US customs denied her entry because "you've been to too many countries that we're not on good terms with".

I do wonder, though, if she might have had different results if she flew directly to the US from Europe. The US/Canada border is kind of funky, if you are a citizen of either country you are not required to fill out any forms and usually not subject to any form of secondary inspection or special questioning. But if you try to enter the US from Canada and are not a US or Canadian citizen, you get a much more thorough check - US CBP does this intentionally because they are aware that Canada is less stingy about granting entry to people than the US is, and therefore they worry about shady characters and illegal immigrants from overseas attempting to fly to Canada and then enter the US by land.


So, it's fair to say we have a two-step logic: visit Israel last, visit the US first.

[getemngo]

I don't have a link handy, but I recall reading a story about a woman from The Netherlands (or somewhere similar) who had done a lot of travel and had stamps in her passport from a bunch of Muslim countries, Yemen among them. She flew to Canada and Canada admitted her with no trouble. She then tried to take the train from Montreal to New York and US customs denied her entry because "you've been to too many countries that we're not on good terms with".

I remember this very well. It was a Dutch man, Niels Gerson Lohman. After some digging, I found his original blog post about it: Why I Will Never, Ever, Go Back to the United States

The US Customs officers were not kind to him, but he also made a few jokes and comments at inappropriate times.

[Brandon]

The US Customs officers were not kind to him, but he also made a few jokes and comments at inappropriate times.

They can be assholes toward US citizens who go to Sarnia for the day, as I found out.

[mgk920]

Back to the OT of this thread, how many active land crossings are there between India and Pakistan?



Mike

[cpzilliacus]

Back to the OT of this thread, how many active land crossings are there between India and Pakistan?



Mike

Isn't it just one, at Wagah? 

N.Y. Times (from 2013): Stepping Across the Line at Wagah Border

[Avalanchez71]

Cuba - USA.  Gitmo is not US territory.  It is a military base leased to the USN under a treaty the current Cuban government wishes a previous Cuban government had not entered into.   The gate there does have a road,  but in any event is no different than the boundry, not border, of  any US (or British or Russian) base in another country.

US military bases in other countries have local customs offices on the other side?

The "treaty" thing is a technicality, given that we got it in America's imperialist war against Spain and that many of the pre-revolution Cuban leaders were American puppets.

Seems like someone did not remember the Maine.

[Avalanchez71]

The "treaty" thing is a technicality, given that we got it in America's imperialist war against Spain and that many of the pre-revolution Cuban leaders were American puppets.

The Bush Administration heavily relied on that "technicality" in its efforts to make Guantanamo Bay as much a "law-free zone" as possible, including in particular denying U.S. constitutional rights for detainees on the grounds that Gitmo was on foreign soil (while at the same time not conceding the detainees had any rights under Cuban law, either).  You can argue about whether that should matter, but that was a key part of the Administration's argument, and also part of why some still resist trying or housing detainees somewhere in the 50 states or D.C.

Obama didn't close it.

[FightingIrish]

The "treaty" thing is a technicality, given that we got it in America's imperialist war against Spain and that many of the pre-revolution Cuban leaders were American puppets.

The Bush Administration heavily relied on that "technicality" in its efforts to make Guantanamo Bay as much a "law-free zone" as possible, including in particular denying U.S. constitutional rights for detainees on the grounds that Gitmo was on foreign soil (while at the same time not conceding the detainees had any rights under Cuban law, either).  You can argue about whether that should matter, but that was a key part of the Administration's argument, and also part of why some still resist trying or housing detainees somewhere in the 50 states or D.C.

Obama didn't close it.

I understand that a lot of it is a NIMBY issue. Nobody wants Guantanamo POWs anywhere near them, not even in max security prisons (unless they've already been convicted and sentenced, apparently). I imagine other countries don't want them in their countries either. So that leaves Gitmo. As long as the war in Afghanistan is going on, Gitmo will stick around.

[US 41]

Peru and Colombia don't appear to have a land border.

[1995hoo]

Peru and Colombia don't appear to have a land border.

????? Do you perhaps mean they don't appear to have any road crossings of their land border?

http://binged.it/1mTIxTp

[US 41]

Peru and Colombia don't appear to have a land border.

????? Do you perhaps mean they don't appear to have any road crossings of their land border?

http://binged.it/1mTIxTp

Wow, I really messed that sentence up bad. I meant what you said. Definite brain fart.

[getemngo]

Peru and Colombia don't appear to have a land border.

You can take a ferry between Leticia, Colombia and Santa Rosa de Yavari, Peru, by the Colombia-Peru-Brazil tripoint. There are customs offices on both sides (and in Brazil). But it doesn't look easy to get to the rest of Peru from there, and I'm sure you can't take your car.

[Dr Frankenstein]

I do wonder, though, if she might have had different results if she flew directly to the US from Europe. The US/Canada border is kind of funky, if you are a citizen of either country you are not required to fill out any forms and usually not subject to any form of secondary inspection or special questioning. But if you try to enter the US from Canada and are not a US or Canadian citizen, you get a much more thorough check - US CBP does this intentionally because they are aware that Canada is less stingy about granting entry to people than the US is, and therefore they worry about shady characters and illegal immigrants from overseas attempting to fly to Canada and then enter the US by land.

My experiences with entering the U.S. with foreign citizens (all of whom were from VWP countries, I must say), have always been pretty straightforward. Go through booth, park at Secondary, enter and fill a I-94W form, pay a fee, get a Visa Waver (green paper stapled to the passport valid for 3 months) and be on our merry way. The Visa Waiver usually needs to be returned upon exiting the U.S.* None of my foreign freinds have ever had their person or belongings searched, from what I can remember.



* Actually, the traveler may keep the waiver and enter the U.S. multiple times with it during its period of validity, saving a lot of time (no need to park and enter the office) and a few dollars. It has to be returned before it expires though, because otherwise it's considered an overstay.